The flight to Sokovia gave Theresa a lot of time to do some research.

After having been locked away from society for just a couple of days, she knew she had a lot to catch up, since Natasha had decided to upload each and every HYDRA file onto the internet for everyone to access.

She sent a glance towards the cockpit. She wasn't fond of the pilot and his co-pilot, but she did trust her contact. So, she figured, she'd have no other choice but to at least have a little pinch of faith in the pilot.

Theresa grabbed a tablet to begin her search of things that had happened while she had been gone.

And of course, after typing in her name, she was quick to find a lot of answers to questions she hadn't even yet asked.

Doctor Theresa Romilly Stark Still Alive

Upon the recent actions by S.H.I.E.L.D agent Natasha Romanoff, the entire world got to know about who works for that organization, as well as for the evil underground counterpart HYDRA, which has tried to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D for a long time.

In a battle at the Triskelion in Washington D.C., Agent Romanoff publicized all of their secrets, including the biggest secret of all time. Doctor Theresa Romilly Stark is still alive and as young as ever.

Doctor Stark was born back in 1918 and was the genius sister of Howard Stark and just as talented as him, maybe even more. She studied hard and earned four PhD's in the span of four years, worked for the U.S. Army as a doctor and even asked to be sent out to camps internationally, insisting she liked to be of better help to the people where they needed it most - in the war zones.

During a raid of a war camp in England, where she was stationed at the time, she was captured by the German troops and brought to Austria, where she was ordered to do as she was told by them and work for their scientific researches.

After Captain America had come to save the soldiers being held captive there, the base was said to have exploded as they made their way out. According to Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, Stark was still in the building during the explosion.

The Stark enthusiasts were saddened by the news, a small funeral was held and after the war was over, a memorial was built in her birthplace, Richford, as an honoring for the things she had discovered and the impact she had left in her short life.

Though, according to the files Romanoff published, Stark wasn't even anywhere near the base she was said to have died in. She had already been on her way transferring to a new base to continue her work there and to live on.

The organization HYDRA experimented on the woman, to 'modify her into a useful weapon'. Stark was said to have willingly undergone those experiments, as well as help perform many modifying surgeries on fellow soldier Barnes.

Throughout the years it seems like she has been granted an infinite lifespan, though one can't really call her fortunate after hearing what she has gone through.

Stark first publicly reappeared during the incident at the Triskelion, apparently showing herself to many people who don't know her, something she wasn't allowed to do. Her files have clearly spoken of her to be contained, only allowing a limited amount of people close to her. One of those being former Alexander Pierce, who can also call himself her drug supplier.

Stark seems to have a serious drug addiction, as stated in her files. She first grew dependent on Morphine in high doses, so high a normal human would die in an instant. Then, when Carfentanyl was discovered, Stark became dependent on the new drug - which is expensive. What luck that Alexander has the right amount of money to supply her with all she needs.

It is said that Stark showed herself that openly on that day, because her supply was running thin and she needed more, either now or never.

After whatever had happened in the Triskelion between Stark and the other agents, she was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D and is currently held hostage in one of the safest S.H.I.E.L.D locations known to the organization, now that a lot of bases were overrun by HYDRA moles.

So Stark lived about a century, not growing older, looking as young as the world remembers her. But that doesn't hold back the endless amount of doubt towards her. After all, she has lived under HYDRA influences for almost seventy years, nobody can say this went past her without leaving its marks, because it did.

Nobody is sure how, though.

While Theresa was still focused on scrolling further in the article, she noticed the co-pilot approaching her from the corner of her eye.

Now was not the exact moment she wanted to be interrupted in her research, but whatever. She'll just listen to what he'll say.

"Doctor Stark, you'll find a few files on the tablet. Strucker has given the instructions for you to go through the files and make yourself familiar with the test subjects, before you will be working with them at the base."

Just the sound of the words 'test subject' made her stomach turn. She had enough of testing on people, she did not want to continue with her work, not when HYDRA was this close to becoming just a bad memory.

"How many are there?"

"Two."

Just two.

"Out of how many?"

The agent shook his head and replied with "I'm not quite sure, but I can assume it's been too many."

Theresa huffed a sigh, running a hand through her hair, before nodding her head slowly and saying "Alright. I will look into it."

The co-pilot nodded in response and turned to return to his assigned seat in the cockpit, leaving Theresa to her thoughts.

The woman couldn't help but pity those two survivors along with those who didn't make it. She had no idea what they have gone through, but that's what she was about to find out.

After all, she had enough of time left before her arrival in Sokovia.

–

"You let her go?"

The team couldn't keep their eyes off of Bruce, who found himself almost in the middle of the room, feeling like a true culprit. Which he, in a way, was.

He was the reason why Theresa Stark had been able to flee the S.H.I.E.L.D compound just a couple of weeks ago and as it seemed, his secret had been revealed today.

Natasha had nothing to say and Bruce had no idea what was going on in her mind, the Russian spy standing a little ways away from the others, as if to avoid getting into the centre somehow.

It's as if she felt somewhat guilty. After all, she was the reason why Theresa ended up opening up so much about herself and her reasons as to why she did what she did, because Natasha scratched the tip of the iceberg and Bruce wanted to know more.

If it weren't for her, Bruce might not have been as interested in Theresa as he was, and she might not have opened up as much as she had.

But this wasn't the time anymore for the "what if's".

"Yes."

Bruce didn't have more to say, not knowing whether he should explain. After all, it would be Theresa's position, whether she wanted the others to know of her having done what she did or not.

Tony paced up and down a little. He didn't know why he felt so angered by the fact that Bruce, one of the few people he had faith and trust in, had let Theresa go.

It still felt so surreal to him to call Theresa his aunt. He had heard of her, sure, as his father would always celebrate her birthday by himself, his mother having told Tony of his aunt.

His father didn't often talk about Theresa, as the memory of her had hurt, since he'd been living without her for over twenty years by the time Tony had been born, and the pain of losing a sibling doesn't get better over time. Most learn to cope, but somehow, Howard never had.

Tony could tell by the way he often found his father doing research, as if he had a feeling Theresa had still been alive.

And Howard had been right. Theresa had survived. Theresa was still alive, after over seventy years.

And as the US government had filed an arrest warrant against Theresa, Bruce could now be considered as a traitor to the state.

But since the government didn't know about her disappearance yet, Bruce was still considered safe – none of them knowing for how long though.

S.H.I.E.L.D had compromised with the government, promising that they would keep Theresa supervised and under lockdown, them dropping the warrant in return. Although the few in this room who knew about it knew that this wouldn't last long.

When the disappearance of Theresa somehow reached the public, S.H.I.E.L.D would be done for, their trust from the government gone.

"You do know that we're screwed now, right? If this reaches the public, we're done for! All thanks to you!"

"You don't understand, Tony!"

"Well then go ahead, explain to me what it is that I don't understand."

Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair, leaning against the table behind him. He didn't want to give them the entire truth, because he felt as though he'd break Theresa's trust, as this was her thing to tell.

So he settled for maybe a part of the truth, if he'd come so far to explain.

"I had my reasons."

Tony huffed a sarcastic laugh, as if Bruce had told a joke that only Tony was able to understand.

"Wow, what a great explanation. You let her go because you had your reasons?"

Bruce nodded, but before he could even open his mouth to try and go into further detail, Tony beat him to it.

"I'll tell you why you let her go. Because she got into your head with a pitiful little backstory and then manipulated you so you'd let her go. You know that all she needs to do is take over your heart and then she's got full control over your body, like a damn witch."

"Tony–"

"No, this is where you zip it! You let a criminal out, god knows where she is right now, and you're acting like you did this because you wanted to, because you had a good day and felt nice or something!"

"Tony, calm down."

"This woman killed an entire troop of soldiers, within the blink of an eye! Thirty-five men, just like that! And now she's out there, probably planning some revenge move or something because we ruined her day."

"Tony, I think you're forgetting something. What she did was almost thirty-five years ago. People change over time."

The Stark man shook his head, his eyes meeting Bruce's.

"No, not people who work with HYDRA. They don't."